In the first century of the Christian era the Eleusinian mystery cult was more favorable known than any of the cults of Greece.24 Its fame and popularity was largely due to the connexion of Eleusis with Athens. Joining a mystery religion was a personal decision and was not connected to what family or culture one belonged to. Although the above paragraph makes it obvious that there are many similarities between these two religions, we must guard against the fallacy of seeing all similarity as direct borrowing. It had to do with the nature of the Christian religion . It is also significant to know that Roman tolerance had favoured this great syncretism of religious ideas. ISBN-10 : 0486231240. mystery religion, any of various secret cults of the Greco-Roman world that offered to individuals religious experiences not provided by the official public religions. A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. The religions that Rome had the most problems with were monotheisticJudaism and Christianity. It, Christianity, is the expression of the longing of people for light, truth, salvation, security. In connection with the temple, she established certain ceremonies and rites for her worship. The inner spiritual, continues ever.. It's one of the things that made Christianity quite distinct in the ancient world. CHRISTIANITY AND THE MYSTERY RELIGIONS SHIRLEY JACKSON CASE, PH.D. Esoteric Christianity (linked with the Hermetic Corpus since the Renaissance) is an ensemble of Christian theology which proposes that some spiritual doctrines of Christianity can only be understood by those who have undergone certain rites (such as baptism) within the religion.In mainstream Christianity, there is a similar idea that faith is the only means by which a . or 404 526-8968. Attis was the Good Shepard, the son of Cybele, the Great Mother, who gave birth to him without union with mortal man, as in the story of the virgin Mary.11 According to the myth, Attis died, either slain by another or by his own hand. Babylon Mystery Religion; 1966 "The Romish system is based upon a mixture. It is stated with sufficient elaboration in the Homeric Hymn to Demeter. 2. It is at this point that we are able to see why knowledge of the Mystery religions is important for any serious study of the history of Christianity. Meanwhile the coffin was washed up on the Syrian coast, and became miraculously lodged in the trunk of a tree. It seems instead to have been carried over from Jewish background and modified by the new ideas and beliefs of the Christians. Here are seven of the most influential Greco-Roman Mysteries and some of what little we know about them. The mother, frenzied with grief, rushed about the earth for nine days in search for her lost daughter,25 As a result of her wandering, she came to Eleusis where she was seen, although not recognized, by the four daughters of Kekeas sitting near a public well called the Fountain of Maidenhood. Art redeems. cit., p. 121.\ This still stands as a festival in the Christian calendar; and thus Christians unconsciously perpetuate the worship of Osiris in modern times.21, However this is not the only point at which the Religion of Osiris and Isis exerted influence on Christianity. Mystery religions were seen as more vibrant than the more stale state religions. The baptismal ceremony in both cases (Christian and Pagan) was supposed to have the effect of identifying the initiate with his savior. The staggering question that now arises is, what will be the next stage of mans religious progress? Many views, while passing out of paganism into Christianity were given a more profound and spiritual meaning by Christians, yet we must be indebted to the source. Because these religions believed there was just one god, they prohibited worshiping other gods. During her short stay at the temple of Eleusis, the whole earth grew barren. To discuss Christianity without mentioning other religions would be like discussing the greatness of the Atlantic Ocean without the slightest mention of the many tributaries that keep it flowing.40. 6. 223224 in this volume. In the Avesta,\[Footnote:] This is the sacred book of the religion of Iran.\ Mithra is represented as the genius of celestial light. Selected Answer: True. The preceding two sentences are similar to a passage in A Study of Mithraism, p. 224 in this volume. 131132: At about this time a story, attributed to Melito, Bishop of Sardis in the Second Century, but probably of much later origin, began to spread that Mary had been miraculously carried to Heaven by Jesus and His angels; and in the Sixth Century the festival of the Assumption, which celebrates this event, was acknowledged by the Church, and is now one of the great feasts of Roman Catholicism, It is celebrated on August 13th; but that was the date of the great festival of Diana or Artemis, with whom Isis was identified, and one can see, thus, how Mary had gradually taken the place of the goddess., 24. On March 24th, known as the Day of Blood, the High Priest, impersonating Attic, drew blood from him arm and offered it up in place of the blood of a human sacrifice, thus, as it were, sacrificing himself. The Christian theologian Origen wrote in the 3rd century that it was part of the divine plan that Christ was born under the emperor Augustus: the whole Mediterranean world was united by the Romans, and the conditions for missionary work were more favourable than ever before. Every year nature passes through a cycle of apparent death and resurrection. And today similar experiences are represented by Greek Christians. 126127: But the Christian feast of All Souls, in honour of the dead, likewise falls at the beginning of November; and in many countries lamps and candles are burnt all night on that occasion. there seems little doubt that this custom was identical with the Egyptian festival. the festival of All Saints, which is held one day before that of All Souls and which was first recognised by the Church in a.d. 835, is undoubtedly identical with it in origin. In this myth, Persephone is depicted playing in the meadows of Mysia in Asia with the daughters of Oceanus and Tithys. When we come to Christian thought the influence seems even greater, for even the place at Bethleham selected by the early Christians as the scene of the birth of Jesus was none other than an early shrine of this pagan goda fact that led many to confuse Adonis with Jesus Christ.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. Dimensions : 5.37 x 0.73 x 8.4 inches. Even Christian apologist had to admit that fact. Answer (1 of 7): Over the years, Christianity has often been compared to the mystery religions of ancient Greece and Rome, both by Christians wishing to emphasize the esoteric nature of their religion and by opponents of Christianity who claim that the resemblance between Christianity and mystery. Mystery religions, as a rule, can be traced back to tribal origins, Christianity to a historical person. He thinks that there were four sets of ideas which the Jews brought with them to Alexandria: 1) the idea of a divine child, born by a virgin, raised in the manner of a son of god, who was also to bring in the new age; CULT OF CYBELE. In both cases, national religions of a ritualistic type were transformed, and the transformation followed similar lines: from national to ecumenical religion, from ritualistic ceremonies and taboos to spiritual doctrines set down in books, from the idea of inherited tradition to the idea of revelation. Men began to die for the lack of food while the sacrifices to the gods decreased in number because the animals were dying out. Jesus was the divine Lord. The parallel development was fostered by the new conditions prevailing in the Roman Empire, in which the old political units were dissolved, and the whole civilized world was ruled by one monarch. The divine personage in whom this cult centered was the Magna Mater Deum who was conceived as the source of all life as well as the personification of all the powers of nature.\[Footnote:] Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration, p. 114.\7 She was the Great Mother not only of all the gods, but of all men as well.8 The winds, the sea, the earth, and the snowy seat of Olympus are hers, and when from her mountains she ascends into the great heavens, the son of Cronus himself gives way before her, and in like manner do also the other immortal blest honor the dread goddess.\[Footnote:] Quoted in Willoughbys, Pagan Regeneration, p. 115.9\. As for my characterization of Mormonism, it depends on the definition. Harold R. Willoughby, Pagan Regeneration (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1929), p. 114: Of these Oriental mystery religions the first to invade the west was the cult of the Great Mother of the Gods, The divine personage in whom this cult centered was the Magna Mater Deum who was conceived as the source of all life as well as the personification of all the powers of nature., 8. The cult of rulers in the manner of the imperial mysteries was impossible in Jewish and Christian worship. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. Although the mystery religions did move towards advancing a solar god above all the others, this change began after 100 A.D., too late to impact the theology of the New Testament. "Concerning the relationship between the mystery cults and Christianity, scholarly opinion has varied. The property of the pagan gods was confiscated, and the temples were destroyed. He appears before sunrise on the rocky summits of the mountains; during the day he traverses the wide firmament in his chariot drawn by four white horses, and when night falls he still illumines with flickering glow the surface of the earth, ever waking, ever watchful. He is neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, but with his hundred ears and his hundred eyes watches constantly the world. However these specific differences need not concern us, for the most significant aspects are common in all the various versions.10 We are concerned at this point with showing how this religion influenced the thought of early Christians. London, 1928. He hears all and sees all: none can deceive him.\[Footnote:] Cumont, Mysteries of Mithra, pp. Weigall, Paganism in Our Christianity, pp. In fact the idea did not appear in the church as a tenet of Christianity until late in the Fourth Century.\[Footnote:] Weigall, op. Interpretation in Platonic concepts was also the means by which the Judeo-Christian set of creeds was thoroughly assimilated to Greek ideas by the early Christian thinkers Clement of Alexandria and Origen. They encouraged the movement away from the state religions and the philosophical systems and toward the desire for personal salvation and promise of immortality. . The later non-Greek mysteries were personal, private, and individualistic. The theology of the mysteries was developed to a far lesser degree than the Christian theology. Supporters of the theory incorrectly assume that Christianity borrowed many of its ideas from the mystery religions, but the evidence reveals it was actually the other way around. 9:11, 12.\ Now to get back to the festival. He says: Following the lead of the apostle Paul, the Christian missionaries on gentile soil finally made of Christianity a more appealing religion than any of the other mystery cults. 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